Tractor mounted grab loader



E. A. DROTT ET L TRACTOR MOUNTED GRAB LOADER Nov. 22, 1949 2,488,767

Filed Feb. 12, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fits.

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ATTORNEY Nov. 22, 1949 E. A. DROTT ETAL I TRACTOR MQUNTED GRAB LOADER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 12, 1947 lNVENTORS ATTORNEY Nov. 22, 1949 A. DROTT ET AL TRACTOR MOUNTED GRAB LOADER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 12, 1947 m W W F EaKOw relented Nov. 1949 TRACTOR MOUNTED GRAB LOADER Edward A. Drott and Edward R. Drott,

. Milwaukee, Wis.

Application February 12, 1947, SeriaiNo. 728,090

Claims. (01. 214-447) 1 The invention relates to loaders. Themain object of the invention is to provide a machine for loading. pulp wood, gs,.cordwood, posts, and the like from theground to a place of deposit such as truck or storage. Where pulp wood and logs are of short length and also in the case of cordwood, the pieces in a pile to be handled being relatively short, loading of such pieces onto a rack has been found to be somewhat difflclllt, and to obviate these dimculties the present invention has been designed for more efficiently handling such short length materials. More particularly, according to the pres-' ent invention, the loading device mounted on a tractor embodies an abutment or a material alining plate which acts in combination with a pair of grippers to effect the loading operation.

The invention further consists in the several features hereinafter set forth and more particularly defined by claims at the conclusion hereof.

In the drawings: I

Fig. 1 is a side elevation view of a loader embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the loader,

Fig. 3 is a front elevation view of the loader.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 5 designates generally a tractor preferably of the crawler type having endless propelling treads or tracks 6' mounted as usual on sprockets (not shown) carried by a. track frame (not shown) which is usually driven from the rear sprocket connected to a drive shaft (not shown) driven from the engine on the body frame 6 of the tractor.

The body frame has laterally extending tubular extensions 1 through which the rear sprocket drive shaft (not shown) extends and also has spaced upright frame members 8 secured to its rear end braced by the diagonally disposed braces 3. At its front end the body frame 6 carries side brackets in connnected with a transverse plate or frame member I l which is braced at its top by the side braces I2 bolted to the frame 6.

Vertically slidably mounted on the front of the plate II is an abutment plate l3 which may have lugs M abutting the side edges of said plate II. The plate I3 is provided with centrally disposed spaced ears l5 carrying a pin l6 connecting said plate with the end of piston rod H for the piston working in the hydraulic cylinder l8 which is pivotally hung at its upper end on ears or brackets l9 carried by the upper end of the plate II. The cylinder I8 is of the double acting type and associated with a control valve and a suitable supply of hydraulic fluid whereby the piston in said cylinder may be moved up or down to raise or lower said plate I 3 or be held in any desired set position. The plate l3, it will be noted. is disposed in front of the body frame and may be moved into abutting engagement with the ends of a pile of cordwood, logs, or other materialto be handled as the tractor is moved forwardly.

A pair of arms 20 are pivotally connected at their rear ends by pins 2| to the uprights 3 and at their front ends by pins 22 to a -U-shaped frame or yoke '23 whose transverse portion 24 is provided with ears 25 carrying pins pivotally connected to the front ends ofauxiliary arms 28 extending substantially parallel to the arms 20 and pivotally connected at their rear ends by pins 21 to said uprights 8, thus forming a parallelogram linkage in which the yoke will move in a substantiallyvertical plan when the arms 20 are raised and lowered.

For raising and lowering the arms 20, a double acting hydraulic cylinder 23 for each arm .is pivotally connected at 29 to the tubular extension I, and its ramrod 30' is pivotally connected by a pin 3| to its arm 20.

Centrally disposed and extending at right. angles to the transverse portion 24 of the yoke 23 is a bar 32, and pivotally mounted on each end of this bar is a set of tongs or grippers 33 which work in spaced planes at right angles to the longitudinal center line through the plate l3 and the tractor. Adjacent tongs of each set of grippers are connected together by'a tie bar 34, and a double acting hydraulic cylinder 35 is operatively connected to 'each bar 34 for moving the tongs associated therewith outwardly or inwardly. As shown, each cylinder 35 is pivotally connected by a pin 36 to a corner of the yoke 23, and its ram or. piston rod 37 is pivotally connected by a pin 38 to the associated tie bar 34.

With the above construction the plate i3 is moved down to the position shown in Fig. 1 by means of the ram 18, the tractor is moved-up to the pile of wood. logs, or other material to be loaded in a position to straddle it, and the plate 13' comes against thebutt end of the wood and evens up the ends, the tongs 33 being then in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, or they may be raised somewhat above the pile and brought down to a position surrounding a part of the pile. Then the cylinders or rams 35 are operated to close the tongs about the material encompassed thereby, as shown in full lines in Fig. 3, and thepush beams or arms 20 are raised by the rams 28', thereby lifting the yoke 23 with deposit. During transporting the plate I: is lifted up by its ram ll so that the clearance under the tractor is not affected.

After the load in the tongs has been transported to the desired location, it may be emptied at any height from the ground up to the maximum height determined by the stroke of the rams 28 by opening up the tongs through the reversal of movement of the pistons for the rams 35.

It will be noted that the'rams 28 and the rams 35 are of the same type as the ram l8, that is, the piston can be reciprocated relative to its cylinder and held in any desired set position.

It is to be understood that this invention is not to be limited to any particular form or arrangement of parts except in so far as such limitations are included in the claims.

What we claim as our invention is:

1. In a loader, the combination with a selfpropelled vehicle, of a vertically disposed abutment plate mounted for vertical movement at the front of said vehicle, a vertically movable load carrying frame in front of said plate and movable in a plane parallel to said plate, raising and lowering means for said frame mounted on said vehicle, load gripping means carried by said frame and operating in planes parallel to said plate, and means for operating said gripping means.

2. In a loader, the combination with a selfpropelled vehicle, of a vertically disposed abutment plate mounted for vertical movement at the front of said vehicle, a vertically movable load carrying frame in front of said plate and movable in a plane parallel thereto, raising and lowering means for said frame mounted on said vehicle, spaced sets of tongs carried by said frame, and disposed in planes parallel to said plate, and means for moving said tongs into and out of engagement with the material being handled.

3. In a loader, the combination with a selfpropelled vehicle, of a vertically disposed abutment plate mounted for vertical movement at the front of the vehicle, hydraulically operated means for raising and lowering said plate, a vertically movable load carrying frame in front of said plate and movable in a plane parallel thereto,

. '4 hydraulically operated raising and lowering means for said frame mounted on said vehicle, load gripping means carried by said frame and operating in planes parallel to said plate, and means for operating said grippingmana.

4. In a loader, the combination with a selfpropelled vehicle, of a vertically disposed abutment plate mounted for vertical movement at the front of the vehicle, a vertically movable load carrying frame in front of said member, raising and lowering means for said frame mounted on said vehicle, spaced sets of tongs carried by said frame and disposed in planes parallel to said plate, adjacent tongs being connected together, and a hydraulic ram associated with each of the connected together tongs for moving the same into and out of engagement with material being handled.

5. In a loader, the combination with a selfpropelled vehicle, of an abutment member mounted for vertical movement at the front of the vehicle, a yoke member in front of said member, a parallelogram linkage connecting said yoke with said vehicle, means for raising and lowering said linkage, spaced sets of tongs having their pivot axes carried by the central portion of said yoke, and means for moving said tongs into and out of engagement with the material being handled.

EDWARD A. DRO'I'I. EDWARD R. DROTT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

